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Upanishads · Muktikā 1.5
॥
Devanāgarī
इदानीं त्वां रघुश्रेष्ठ प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः । त्वद्रूपं ज्ञातुमिच्छामि तत्त्वतो राम मुक्तये
Transliteration (IAST)
idānīṃ tvāṃ raghuśreṣṭha praṇamāmi muhurmuhuḥ | tvadrūpaṃ jñātumicchāmi tattvato rāma muktaye
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
इदानीं त्वां रघु-श्रेष्ठidānīṃ tvāṃ raghu-śreṣṭhanow, to you, best of the Raghus
प्रणमामि मुहुः मुहुःpraṇamāmi muhuḥ muhuḥI bow again and again
त्वत्-रूपं ज्ञातुम् इच्छामिtvat-rūpaṃ jñātum icchāmiyour form I wish to know
तत्त्वतः राम मुक्तयेtattvataḥ rāma muktayetruly, Rāma, for the sake of liberation
Translation
«Now I bow to you again and again, best of the Raghus; I wish to know your form truly, Rāma — for the sake of liberation».
Version
06afc7bbd92b · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Worth noting what Hanumān asks for: tvat-rūpaṃ jñātum icchāmi, «your form I wish to know». Not «the truth», not «brahman», not «the self» — but your form; and this for the sake of liberation. This detail matters and shapes the whole book.
The question is put so that the answer cannot be abstract: he asks about his form, not about the principle in general. Add the word tattvataḥ, «truly, in essence». That is, he asks not for a description or an image, but for knowledge as it is; and the joining of «form» and «in essence» is itself already a whole teaching: the form is the essence, not a veil upon it.
Add too what is worth noting in the one asking. Hanumān is the one who serves with his body: he carries, searches, fights, brings a mountain with its herb. And it is he who turns out to ask about the highest knowledge; that is, the question about vedānta is put by a servant, not by a renunciate.
The Vaishnava reading points to this readily: for it Hanumān is the model of dāsya, «service», spoken of at Rāma-tāpanī. And the answer he will get will match the question: Rāma will say «I am established in vedānta» — but will end by naming his own names and his own list.